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Tips On Transforming The Garden of a New Property

WHEN YOU MOVE into a new home it’s obviously important to get to grips with all the essential jobs that make the place livable and comfortable. This means tackling interior issues and design straight away.

However, it’s also wise to pay the garden some attention. Sorting your new garden out is a great way to make the place look nice from the outside and improve what you see when you look out the window. All of this helps make a house a home, and that is exactly what you want when you move into a new property.

So what are the essential steps when you inherit a brand new garden area? The following tips should help to make a garden transformation clearer and easier.

Clearing out

First of all, you will need to do some clearing out. When people put their houses on the market they are not always motivated to keep up with garden maintenance. When you move in, lawns are likely to need mowing and plants may need cutting back before you even get a clear idea of what’s already in place. Then it may be a case of tearing out anything you aren’t keen on. This may include garden features and sheds as well as plant life.

Addressing problems

Problems with invasive weeds are common. Japanese knotweed and other invasive species cause untold damage, and if you’re trying to transform a garden you can’t really do so until you’ve eradicated all traces of such unwanted guests. This may require some professional help but it’s worth it if it helps you create the perfect garden.

Evaluating your devotion to a garden

Not everyone is able to spend hours maintaining a lush garden. Evaluate the amount of time you’ll be able to devote to garden maintenance so that you don’t bite off more than you can chew. If you think you’ll only have time to spend one weekend every season gardening. then consider low maintenance options rather than plants that need lots of TLC. A patio strewn with attractive pots may be a better gardening idea.

Filling the space

Finally, it is time to start filling the space, but you should start by filling it with ideas. Don’t get your hands dirty until you’ve done some proper thinking. Plan your new garden. Even if you are not an expert, you can still draw out a rough sketch of how you want things to look. This will help you approach landscaping in a more methodical way.

This article was written by Julian Caruthers, keen gardener and expert in Japanese knotweed control.

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Lawn Care Tips

EVERYONE STOPS to admire a healthy garden, that’s a fact, but no matter how many blooming trees and flowers you have in there, your garden won’t look healthy until your lawn is a lush green carpet, ready for the spring.

In order to get the lawn that’s on the front of the lawn care bottles you need to think about what the grass really needs. In order for your grass to grow healthily it will need sun, lots of water and fertilizer.  Some people don’t like the thought of putting fertilizer on their lawns, especially if they have young children about, but this is essential if you’re going to achieve the lawn you’re dreaming of.

It all starts when you’re preparing the soil ready for planting. You should make sure that any weeds are completely removed – even the roots – if the roots are six inches down then you should level off at six inches down; you don’t want to risk weeds completely ruining the lawn that you’ve spent so long creating.

You should then add compost to the soil in order to create a nutritional base for your lawn to grow on. The compost will also stop the soil becoming lumpy because of its low nutritional value. Make sure that the soil is loose enough for thorough drainage; many professionals recommend leaving your garden on a slight slope to promote effective drainage.

You have two choices when it comes to lawns: you could go for the easy, but often more expensive, option of turf–or choose to seed the lawn and nurse it from the beginning.

Turf is often the most popular option as you have a luscious lawn from day one and all you have to do is maintain it. However, if you have a large space to cover, then it can often work out pretty costly.

Seeding your own lawn on the other hand is much harder as you have to make sure the seeds are kept in the perfect conditions, and if the conditions aren’t quite right you could be waiting an eternity. However, if you do manage to succeed growing your own lawn it’s a great thing to tell people that you achieved.

In the summer you can see every garden lover’s pride as they mow their beautifully kept lawn, but a lot of people cut the grass too short, which puts it under a lot of stress and makes it dry out much quicker. It’s recommended to raise the height of your mower so that you’re only cutting the top third of the blade. You may not appreciate longer grass, since you’ll have to mow it more often, but longer grass promotes root growth which means your lawn will stay healthy and green for longer.

Carl Tunnicliffe – expert gardener – likes to give advice on how to keep a lawn healthy; to keep his green all year through he visits turfland.co.uk.

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Top Five Essential Gardening Tools

Similar to every trade, gardening demands some essential tools in order for a garden to be maintained at its optimum. Whether you are a budding gardener with a shed full of the most innovative gadgets and tools a gardener could lay his or her hands on, or you are a complete beginner with not so much as a trowel to your name, you will agree that there are some essential tools that a gardener needs.

Take a look at the following vital instruments that every gardener should own.

Scissors

Scissors can go a long way in ensuring that a garden is well maintained and looks good. They don’t have to be fancy expensive scissors, as on the contrary, a pair of ordinary household scissors will be sufficient in removing deadheads from flowers, snipping herbs and harvesting small vegetables.

Shears

You may be surprised just how many projects a pair of decent gardening sheers can be used for. From cutting grass to trimming a hedge, shears are essential for a wide range of jobs in the garden and quite simply, gardeners can’t live without them.

A Shovel

To achieve a vibrant looking garden that is full of colour, life and vitality, you do of course have to grow things. In order to grow things in a garden, whether it is flowers, plants, vegetables or trees, you will have to plant them, which will require you to dig a hole. Digging a hole is made considerably easier when you use a shovel, thus making this simple and traditional tool a vital asset to any gardener.

A Rake

From the seemingly relentless fall of leaves in the autumn placing a blanket of gold across our lawn, to compost being mercilessly blown across the garden in the winter, whatever season it is, a rake is a crucial component of a gardener’s shed. From ridding a lawn of debris to clearing a flowerbed of fallen petals and blossom, rakes tidy up a garden with efficiency and speed that no other tool will accomplish.

Hand Trowels

Not every job in the garden is dramatic and huge and involves water features being installed and a landscape designer called in to draw up some designs. The most common types of jobs carried out in the garden are small, and require handheld tools, namely a hand trowel.

Hand trowels make common smaller jobs such as planting bulbs and plants and loosening the soil in order to hand weed, significantly easier and because of this, hand trowels could be considered as being the ultimate essential gardening tool.

Caroline Scott wrote this article on behalf of turfonline.co.uk.

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Hardscaping: Why is it Necessary in a Landscape Design?

Photo of a PergolaHOW MANY TIMES have you found yourself looking into your garden, appreciating your well arranged foliage and flower beds, yet still feel that the overall design of your landscape just doesn’t feel right? The combination of greens and blooms are gorgeous, but somehow you know that something is lacking and it is starting to make you feel frustrated with your own efforts. But, have you ever considered that the missing piece in your landscape might be hardscaping?

Any landscape design, be it intended for a small garden or a spacious yard, always benefits from the addition of hardscapes and no outdoor space would be complete without them. Hardscapes, as their name suggests, are hard structures such as fences, pavers, pergolas, arbors, planters, a grouping of stones and even a single piece of sculpture. When put together along with plants they easily complete the overall appearance of a landscape. In short, hardscaping is a necessity in any outdoor space and there’s a lot of good reason why it’s worth incorporating in your landscape design.

Improves the aesthetics of an outdoor space by creating a visual balance

A garden that lacks some form of structural element is also missing balance. When the eyes is only drawn toward the foliage and blooms in a particular space, with no solid element to rest upon, the whole area becomes dull. The greens and flowers will only please you for a fleeting moment, but after a while the space just becomes uninteresting because of the imbalance.

This is in contrast to a garden that is composed of a combination of softscape and hardscapes. The elements refreshes the entire spaces and allows the eyes to rest in a focal point after looking at a fairly dense planting. Simply put, the addition of hardscapes create harmony and balance, which in turn lend the whole garden a new and improved appearance that is pleasing to the eyes.

Helps define an area

Hardscaping can also carve out the space you need within your garden or yard. For instance, the addition of an arbor will provide you a place to rest amidst the lush greens and can also help separate two garden rooms. On the other hand, building a gate will help mark a point of entry from one area within the garden to another.

Creates privacy

Another great benefit that can be derived from incorporating hardscapes in your landscape design is that there are some kinds of hardscape elements that can help establish the privacy that you need. Lattices, wooden gates or doors, tall stacks of stones can be used to make an airy hangout or a quiet nook that is secluded from the other parts of the house.

Provides permanence

By now you are probably aware that a garden that is only made up of foliage and flowers has the tendency to lose its appeal overtime. With the integration of hardscapes in your landscape design, they can help your garden to endure a wide variety of conditions and still contribute to the aesthetic quality of the entire space. Say, for instance, if many of your plants are deciduous, they will lose leaves come winter time, which in turn will make a large part of your landscape looking empty. However, with the right hardscapes in place, they can easily outlive the vegetation growing around them, which in turn creates a sense of permanence for onlookers.

Written and contributed by Ericka, who enjoys writing content for online business We Do Cardboard Boxes, a UK based internet company which provides affordable and cheap cardboard packaging boxes.

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4 Garden Pests That Can Be Controlled Naturally

Rent A Son flower gardentOwning a garden can be like having a little slice of heaven in your own backyard. Unfortunately, your little paradise may be overrun by nasty little devils known as garden pests. These critters can wreak havoc even on the most beautiful gardens, especially if they’re left alone. So you will want to act fast. The sooner you act on the problem, the better the chances that you will be able to prevent further degradation of the plants in your garden.

However, in order to fix your problem, you must first know what you are up against. Know your enemies and you will have a better shot at defeating them. Below is a list of some of the most common garden pests, and how you can deal with them naturally.

Dealing with Aphids

Aphids, also known as plant lice, are small sapping insects that can easily be one of the most destructive pests in a garden. Thankfully, you can easily get rid of them by simply having some lady bugs in your garden. Lady bugs love to eat aphids, and they will solve the aphid problem for you. Or if you prefer, you can simply just spray a jet of water using a regular garden hose on the aphids that cling to the plants. If they do get detached, the force will harm their mouthparts, thus rendering them unable to feed.

Dealing with Cutworms

Cutworms aren’t worms, per se, but are actually caterpillars. They are fond of snacking on young plants. They are most active during the night, so it’s nearly impossible for you to catch them in the act unless you plan on pulling an all-nighter. Your best course of action is to make sure that your young plants are protected. Scatter egg shell shards along the places where the cutworms usually gather, such as the area surrounding the saplings. The next time they try to feed on your plants, they will have a nasty surprise waiting for them. The egg shells will wound the cutworms and the pests will eventually perish.

Dealing with Slugs

One of the more common garden pests is the slug. Slugs move rather slowly, but they can quickly ruin your garden, especially if they are in large numbers. Dealing with them can be a bit tricky since these slugs are nocturnal. Sometimes, the slug problem has already been established before you notice its existence. A good way to check for a slug infestation is to leave a bowl of beer overnight. If there are slugs present, they will be attracted to the yeast content of the beer. The moment they get into the bowl, they will drown. Or you can deal with them the same way you deal with cutworms. Just sprinkle some egg shell pieces around where they usually feed, as egg shells are also very effective in exterminating slugs.

Dealing with Thrips

Thrips are slender little winged insects that usually feed on plants with bright colors, especially developing flowers or even vegetables. These buggers cause deformities and discolorations to your plants, reducing their value. It’s best if you can deal with them as soon as possible, so it is advised for you to use insecticidal soaps. However, if you don’t want to use an artificial means of dealing with thrips, you can simply populate your garden with their natural predators such as lady bugs, lacewings or mantids.

Gerard Cunningham is a freelance article writer who writes articles about gardening tools and techniques. He also writes organic pest control articles about Insight Pest Solutions as well. (Photo courtesy of vjeran2001 at Stock.Xchng)

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